Why do I present? Taking the show on the road...

Flickr image credit 

In one of my sessions at #CUERockstar Napa last weekend, a teacher asked me why I liked Twitter if it made my phone buzz all the time. “You can turn that off,” I said, “but actually, that tweet was someone answering a question we couldn’t figure out from the morning session. There were about 10 tweets in 10 minutes when we got stuck trying to figure out iMovie trailer on a MacBook and we couldn’t find the answer with Google!”

I love Twitter. I find inspiration there EVERY day. But that’s not why I’m writing this post. I’m writing this post because my phone went off in the grocery store. My new friend (we just met for real in Napa even though we’ve been talking on Twitter for a few months) Kathleen Diver had tweeted out her most recent blog post and mentioned me. Now, I am not THAT girl who stops in the aisle and blocks the way while messaging, but I was intrigued, so I powered through my last few aisles so I could get to my car and check out her blog post. You can read it here. It’s a great post and raises quite a few questions about who is a rockstar in the teaching and tech world. It's funny, I’ve never met someone who claims to be a rockstar (most people will say they are not rockstars!) but everyone I know can make a list of people they consider to be rockstars. I am not a rockstar.

Kathleen also asks why we present to other people in our profession, and if you are not a presenter, what is holding you back?

Why do I present? I thought about this question all the way home from the store. I was surprised how many different answers came to mind. Some practical, some philosophical...

1. Presenting is kind of a weird word for me. Yes, I usually prepare a “presentation” but really, any time I’m leading a group, whether it’s 6 year olds or teachers, I feel like I am just teaching. The presentation keeps me focused and organizes my thoughts, but  I LOVE teaching and learning. This is my 17th year in education and I’ve always enjoyed leading learning with adults and kids. My first shot at “presenting” was teaching my colleagues in 1997 how to build a webpage in Netscape. Was I an expert? No way! I was just a few steps ahead-- enough to share. But even leading that group was still messy and I recall figuring out stuff together.

2. I still get nervous. I lead workshops as an Area 3 Writing Project teacher as well as technology workshops. Even as recently as a year ago on the morning of my presentation I felt like I could throw up! I really admire anyone who puts themselves out there in front of complete strangers. This is why I will never walk out of a session. It’s a tough gig sometimes, and I appreciate all of the work that people put into it. Every presenter I know reflects and wants to improve.

3. I love presenting because I get to attend conferences for FREE! I don’t have a lot of extra money in my personal budget to attend conferences, so by applying to present, I can get in for free! Even if my school is willing to pay to send me, I always try to present if I can. This past weekend I attended #ETC!14 for the first time, presented one session, and had my mind officially BLOWN more than once. I get to go to a lot of awesome conferences in some amazing locations. Most tech presenters are not paid, or in the case of #CUERockstar our hotel is paid for. My work for #A3WP is paid, but last summer I bought my MacBook Air with the proceeds, something I could never have afforded without it.

Kathleen also asks what makes a good presenter, and how she can improve… I have never seen Kathleen present but I love that she is a passionate learner. I think about the people I love to learn from, those “rockstars” and why I love to be in their sessions. Really, I just love being near them! I totally love being with people who love their work, who are passionate and inspiring. I was in a session with Muffy Francke, and she blew my mind with Aurasma in the last three minutes of her session. I left her session wanting to know more! I had never seen her before, but I will never forget her. Truly a rockstar. Joe Wood is one of those people I love to be around. He makes me feel like I am getting smarter by the second! Or Jon Corippo-- brilliant! Both are totally friendly and approachable. And I know many, many people who are these passionate lead learners-- too many to list.

I also love when sessions are interactive- when I get a chance to try out whatever thing I’m learning about. Messy fun is my favorite!

Why do I present? In a nutshell, it’s because I get to connect with passionate educators who are excited to learn. I love Twitter for the same reasons! I’m looking forward to meeting you somewhere in the future. And if you’re not yet presenting, you should definitely think about it!

#CUERockstar Napa: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy & Why I Love My School

First follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy

Why I love my school:

There are a few videos I could watch over and over and this is one of them. I had the chance to see it again this past weekend at CUE Rockstar in Napa. Now, I know that if I asked any of my friends or colleagues, they will ALL say that I'm the shirtless dancing guy. And I am! However, this is not the important thing about this video. At my school I asked these questions: Are you the shirtless guy? The lone nut? Are you the first follower? Do you love to dance?

No matter if we are the crazy one to start the dance, the first follower, or one who joins in later, the important thing about our school is that we all dance! All of us! As I was walking my crazy cute puppy around the block today, I could quickly think of an instance where every one of our staff members did something new, fun, or amazing that inspired each of us to think about trying something different. As I start the process of finding new staff members to join our team for next year, I'd really like to just show them this video and ask them if they're ready to dance with us! I love, love my team because they dance their bootays off!

Just dance.

#CUERockstar Reflection: Napa by the numbers

American Canyon High School

I spent the past three days learning with 60 smart educators at #CUERockstar in Napa. It's actually American Canyon, if you want to get specific, but if you ask me, I spent my weekend in Napa! I always love the quiet drive home to think and reflect, and I'm excited to be home to blog about the weekend. All during the drive, I kept thinking about numbers, and how much I learned over the past three days. Here are my thoughts: Napa by the numbers.

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The power of one. Every single person is important. As a presenter, I am honored if just one person chooses to learn in my session. I will never forget the time I arrived at an 8 am conference session early, so excited to learn from a well known presenter and someone I follow on Twitter. At 8:10, the session still hadn't started, and the presenter said, "Gosh, I don't know where everyone is! This is usually a packed session!" And she waited for another 5 minutes to start, I remember thinking, "I'm here! I'm somebody!" I just want to say thank you to everyone who chose to spend some time sharing with me this weekend! You made my day!

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Two. I love two hour sessions. The more I present, I think that at least 90 minutes is required for an awesome ed tech session. Any new learning, really. You need to actually have time to make, to create, to play with your new learning. Most one hour sessions provide just enough time to show and tell. Rockstar's two hour sessions are perfect for learning and making! I was so excited to see the book trailers, blogs, and Google sites teachers created in my sessions!

There were also two new apps I learned about this weekend. Check them out!

Make movies... or book trailers? Thanks @jcorippo 

Cool photo swirls! Thanks Nicole!

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Three. How awesome are three days of learning? Especially in a beautiful location! Even on the drive to Napa after work Thursday, I was questioning the wisdom of giving up three days of a four day weekend for a conference. But the three day format of Rockstar in a fun location is perfect. The true #edugetaway. It felt like a vacation, complete with yummy dinners out, wine, and some amazing company. Did I mention my mom joined me in Napa?

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Four. Four of the awesome book trailers made on day 2! We used iMovie Trailer, PhotoPeach, and Animoto in our session.

Book Trailer Makerspace

Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies!

Game of Thrones Storyboard

Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies by @jenny_derby @bdavisbarbara and @norcaliteach

Click here to view!

By @MrsRocheJSE

I Need My Monster by Amanda Cogdill

Game of Thrones by Michael Alger

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Five. Five o'clock. The time I left work on Thursday and the view on the way to Napa... The sky was unreal!

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Zero. I have thought a lot about this number. Last summer as a first time Rockstar presenter, I was terrified that no one would attend my session! But, at the end of Tahoe last summer, I also remember thinking that I had loved every minute of it, but that I also hadn't had the opportunity to attend any of the other sessions. There were so many amazing sessions and presenters! This trip, I have a totally different take on the number zero. It hasn't happened, but if I ever have a session and no one joins me, I'll head to another room and join a different session! I love, love to teach, but I also love to learn. 

Thanks for an amazing weekend!

Our Mock Caldecott Top 7 List: Waiting for ALA!

image credit ala.org

We started with 30 contenders in our school's first Mock Caldecott, and we've narrowed down to our 7 favorites. We're excited to find out the winner tomorrow!

Here are our finalists:

What are your plans for tomorrow? Did your school have a Mock Caldecott?

To Tweet or Not to Tweet? There is no question!

If you’re on Twitter, you are already a believer. I’m preaching to the choir. But, if you teach at a school where many sites are blocked, you probably don’t know how much you need Twitter. Do I understand why IT people place restrictions on internet access in schools? Totally. But,  I believe blocking access to social networking sites for teachers creates a major obstacle for professional learning in schools. Social networking sites are professional learning networks. In his blog post “Tiny Bits of Learning”, Chris Betcher shares how professional development is changing.

“Learning needs to be ongoing. The world is changing. There are new tools that can help students learn, new ideas about learning, new brain research, new emerging technologies, new social structures, and so on… to think that you can maintain a professional outlook by attending two or three PD workshops a year is almost laughable. To keep up with new learning, you really need to be plugged into an ongoing source of professional discourse and resource sharing. It needs to be something that happens regularly, at least several times a week. Like so many other aspects of the 21st Century, some of the “ways we’ve always done things” don’t really cut it anymore.”

Are we talking about a ton of time here? No. You could spend a lot of time on Twitter. Or you could spend a little. But the amazing thing is, in just ten minutes, you can find information that inspires you, about anything you want to know.

“Just ten minutes. Even just skimming through that list of things would give me more relevant PD than most teachers get exposed to in a whole year. And those of us who use Twitter in this way are able to tap this stream of information any time we like.” (Chris Betcher)

Last year, after being on Twitter for about two months,  I came up with a list of 20 things I wouldn’t have known about if it weren’t for Twitter or Facebook. Quickly. And really, there’s more I could have listed. Serious game changers. All impacted my classroom practice in one way or another. I’d love for you to check out this list, or better yet, check out Twitter and create your own! But I don’t want you to be frustrated when you go to check out these things at school when you find out they’re blocked.

Teachers need an all access pass to social networking.

This list exists for one simple reason: social networking. So while I could tweet away at home, I also needed access at school because that’s where the ideas on this list were meant to be implemented.

Take blogging, for instance...

Two summers ago, I first began bouncing around the idea of blogging. I wasn’t sure I had anything meaningful to contribute, but I did think my students (and families) would love seeing their writing published for a worldwide audience. However, as a first grade teacher, I knew my 5 and 6 year olds were NOT going to be word-processing much. I needed to know how other teachers of young children were blogging with their students. My friend, Joe Wood is an Area 3 Writing Project Teacher Consultant and the Technology Coordinator for Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, California. We connected on Facebook, where he regularly posts articles about technology in education. One day, he posted a link on my wall to Linda Yollis’ classroom blog and he said, “ This made me think of you!”  

Linda Yollis is an elementary Google Certified teacher in Southern California who blogs weekly with her students. I would not have a blog without Linda Yollis or Joe Wood. She doesn’t even really know me (although we do follow each other on Twitter, and I subscribe to her blog) and yet her blog was totally the inspiration for mine. There are so many ways she uses her blog with her students that I found were totally doable in first grade. Every time she posts her blog on Twitter, I get a new idea that I can’t wait to try! And I’ve learned about different digital tools just by seeing them on her blog. 

My first attempt at blogging started at home, on Blogger. Easy enough! Then, I opened it up at school to share with my students. Blocked. No images showed up. So frustrating! Turned out we didn't have access to Blogspot at school. So, back I went to Joe and Facebook! A few chat messages later, Joe recommended Edublogs. Thankfully, it wasn't blocked at school! It worked out well, although I still had to unblock YouTube every time I wanted my students to see a video I posted, or to watch a book trailer.

Blogging is just one thing that I would never have done if I hadn’t had access to Facebook or Twitter. Do I use these tools socially? Sure. But mostly, I look to social networking for daily inspiration related to my passion-- teaching and learning. Whether it’s a good book to read, or the latest tech tool we need, teachers need access to the social networking at school. We’re professionals. We want to learn. We need a network of other like-minded and passionate professionals that are sharing daily about what we want and need to know.

Twitter is more than finding out what Justin Bieber’s latest haircut looks like or following Boo, the world’s cutest dog. Sure, that’s out there. Chris Betcher said it best, “I don’t care about that stuff, so I don’t follow those people, so I don’t see those tweets. Twitter works because you get to make choices about who is part of your network.  You create relevance for yourself.”

I’m looking for professional development that’s relevant to my life and my classroom. Given access, when and where we need it, whether at school or in my pj’s, I promise you won’t be disappointed! Twitter. Let's get tweetin'!

Twitter For Educators- A Beginners Guide

Ten Stages of Twitter-- For Teachers

K-2 Classroom Checklist-- Are you ready For Twitter?

*Edited from my original post on http://jenniferkloczko.edublogs.org/ January 27, 2013

Close Reading for Little Learners

Flickr image credit Mark Skipper 

A few weeks ago, I wrote this post after reading Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts, an amazing book about teaching analytical reading. It was filled with great information and practical strategies. But...

It's like many of the professional books I read-- they're mostly written by teachers of grades 4 and above. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that good teaching is good teaching, regardless of grade level. I'm always looking for the key instructional components in any book I read, and then I try to make a connection to the grade level I'm teaching.  But we're talking about teaching close reading to kids when they may not. even. read. Teaching reading and writing when kids are as young as four is definitely an adventure! 

So I was just a little bit excited when I received a flyer from the Placer Area Reading Council (PARC) about a Saturday workshop-- K-2 Close Reading! I signed up to attend along with four teachers from my school. The cost of the workshop: $20, for a six hour training including breakfast treats and lunch. Such a deal.

We spent the day at Penryn Elementary, a tiny school located a few minutes outside of Roseville, California, with about 20 other teachers. Although PARC is a small reading organization from the Sierra foothills, they frequently host big names in literacy. About 10 years ago, Jim Trelease presented, and last year they hosted "The Book Whisperer" Donalyn Miller! Check out their Facebook page or visit http://placerareareadingcouncil.org/ to find out about their events. Today's presentation by Patty Calabrese was filled with tons of practical information about close reading with K-2 learners. You can check out the link to my complete notes here. Here are some highlights from today's workshop:

Close reading is…

• analytic reading
• careful and purposeful re-reading of text
• can involve a short text
• analyzing structure and craft
• to develop deep understanding of text
• rereading when needed as they work to analyze complex text

Close reading is not…

• a reading program
• just ELA (it’s actually best implemented in content areas)
• just a strategy
• the same old stuff
• a silver bullet

Close reading requires text dependent questions:

• Require the reader to return to text
• Can be low level but not as many (blooms levels)
• Usually higher levels of thinking - requires citing evidence

Close reading is all about comprehension.

Patty shared this analogy:

“Close reading is like digging a hole to plant a tree”

Reread the text at least three times:

• First read: scratching the surface -- establish purpose for reading, looking for big picture / main idea
• Generally read by the teacher
• Discussion (What is this text mostly about? Turn and talk-- sentence frame-- This text is mostly about ____________________.

• Second read: digging deeper into text structure and author’s craft
• How does this text work? What did you notice about the text?
• Students notice language, new thinking
• Read aloud, independent, or group read.
• Students need their own copy of the text if you want them to read with a pencil (annotating text) as you read together-- sticky notes, sheet protector, photocopy, typed copy
• Reading with a pencil-- kids need to have 1:1 correspondence to be able to do
• Discussion “Who is telling the story?”

• Third read-- the deepest part of the hole (the deepest levels of comprehension)
• Connections are made to text
• Quality of text is considered
• Lots of discussion
• Usually read aloud or group read

Easy ways to support students in tackling complex text

1. Get kids passionate about reading! Kids need choice and exposure to many different genres.
2. Kids need to read more!
3. We need to develop vocabulary

Some final thoughts as we ended the day:

Close reading is about thinking.

Emphasize oral response before written.

It's best implemented in content areas.

We need more informational texts.

Kids need more discussion!

Anything by Gail Gibbons is great for a close read.

Reading closely with little learners is not going to be easy. But after today's workshop, I feel so much more informed and inspired-- I can't wait to see our little learners reading and analyzing complex text.

.



 

Super-Sized Sharing or Why I blog...

A few days ago, I read Branding in Education, a post by Karl Lindgren-Streicher (@LS_Karl) and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Truthfully, when I first read it I thought he was talking about me. Was I guilty of over-sharing? Did I come off as trying to promote myself? Was I flooding twitter feeds and driving people crazy? I hoped not. For three days, I wondered. Then I finally asked him. Was it me?

Even if it wasn't me, Karl's post did make me think-- and he suggested reflecting on these three questions.

• Who are you blogging for? 
• Who are you tweeting for?
• Why are you involved in social media?

Who am I blogging for?

I blog for me. I don't love to write, but I need to write. I used to toss and turn all night thinking about anything and everything. When I write, whether in a blog post, a Google doc, or in my notebook, it gets the stuff out of my head. I sleep so much better since I started writing regularly. There is always stuff flying around in my head- things I worry about, that I wonder about, things that inspire me. I have a 40 minute commute and I often compose blog posts in my mind on the drive home. Most are never posted. My post about #FallCUE was drafted on the drive home from Napa- all in my head, and it ended up being featured on the CUE blog! I read somewhere that blogging is like writing out loud. In my notebook, no one ever hears it. On my blog, someone could. I love that possibility. I also love reading other blogs and my posts are often inspired by other bloggers. And so I write- when I'm inspired. Luckily for me, I'm inspired a lot- by my colleagues, by our students, by books, and by my PLN on Twitter.

Who am I tweeting for?

I tweet to share and connect. Lots of my tweets are sharing blog posts that I find, or resources, or great books to read. Sometimes I am asking a question, or helping to find an answer. Sometimes I find a cool tech tip that I think people might like. Sometimes I'm introducing someone to Twitter or sharing a post for a new blogger. I also love being involved with CUE and the Area 3 Writing Project so I share conferences that are coming up--sometimes I'm a presenter, sometimes not. CUE Rockstar Napa is coming up and I'm excited about that. I share things like that on Twitter because those events are filled with fun and learning -- we can never have too much of that! I also tweet to connect with others- classrooms, teachers, administrators, authors, artists and more. I found Twitter because of Donalyn Miller, the author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild. From her, my world expanded to readers, writers, teachers and more. And my Amazon bill has exploded with all of the book recommendations--from Twitter. I have never read so many books in my life! The better question may be "If you aren't on Twitter, why not?"

Why are you involved in social media?

I think that I've answered this question mostly above. But I do have one rule: post positive. Whether it's Facebook or Twitter, I always keep it positive. I still think snarky Facebook posts in my head but whatever goes online is positive. (Well, except for that one rant about cleaning!)

image credit www.technologyrocksseriously.com/

I love social media because it connects me with brilliant people and ideas. Some things out there don't inspire me, in which case I can always block or unfollow. I want to write about what I know about and what I care about and I want others to do that, too. I'm thrilled to see so many new bloggers out there! Writing, regardless of format, is a good thing! I'll try not to tweet too much, or over-share. I like David Theriault's @davidtedu logic here:

Thanks, Karl, for the opportunity to think, reflect, and share.